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tubing benders

Jonny-K5

Jonny-K5

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i want to purchase a tubing bender so i can make my own bumpers.ive got a few questions...

1. where can i find a decent, cheap unit. i want something that wont break, but i dont want to spend a fortune. the cheaper the better.

2. what is size dies should i get to build tube bumpers. i was thinking maybe 1.5" and 2".

3. can i use a pipe bender? i've seen them pretty cheap. not sure if they work for tube. i know the differences in design, but what would happen if you bent tube in a pipe bender. didnt look like you could do more than a 45* bend on the pipe bender, is there any other drawbacks>?

thanks!
 
JD2 Model 3 bender is a good one, good bang for the buck..

http://www.medfordtools.com/mb3.html

05.jpg


Pro Tools Model 105 is a nice one, heavy duty too, Ive played with this one a lil bit and liked it. Personally this one is built a lil more heavy duty. Granted I'm not a whiz on a bender and dont have years of experience, from seeing the 2 this would be the better. Definately the one I'll be buying.

http://www.pro-tools.com/105.htm


1.5 and 2" would be good for bumpers but I'll let someone else explain that i.e. CLR and radius.
 
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thanks for the links.
i was looking at the die sets for the JD2 bender, whats the difference between a round tube die and a pipe die(sch 40)? what is a better material for building things like bumpers? i have a set of rock sliders made out of sch 40 that seem pretty strong, is tubing better? i also noticed the pipe dies only go to 1.5", while the tubes go to 2". why is that?
 
Pipe is defined by it's inside diameter (and it's schedule)

Tube is defined by it's outside diameter and it's wall thickness.

1.5" pipe (sched 40) is 1.90" outside for example, 1.5" Tubing is 1.5" outside.

Nothing wrong with pipe for bumpers and sliders...but I'd stick to OD tubing for cages.

I will probably buy a 1.5" pipe die for my JD2 next.


Pipe benders like what Harbor freight sells are only good for heavy wall stuff and will do nothing more than kink tubing. The JD2 and other Model 3 knock-off's are all "Rotary Draw" benders. They draw the tube around the die set and create a near perfect bend.

Rene
 
thanks for the info. so does that mean i can bend thick wall sch. 40 pipe on a harbor freight bender? i'd love to get one of those nice benders, but its a little out of my budget for now. i could do some simple bends with a POS harbor freight thing right? just for the bumper. maybe down the road get the good tools and do a cage.
 
You could probably do OK as long as you stuck to sched 40 pipe. I wouldn't even hope to get a clean 90, but 45's might be OK.

Rene
 
i bought the harbor freight bender:mad: save your money and buy a real one! i just bought a m-tech one and should have put the $100 for the harbor freight one towards that!
 
i have a protools 105HD and a 1.75" x 240 x 6" die. Save your pennies and get atleast a decent manual bender (protools or JD, not some flybynight junk). If you're making bumpers and stuff I wouldn't use anything less. I love pinching pennies more than anyone, but I wouldn't use a harbor frieght bender to make bumpers with. I shop there all the time... and you can save lots of $ there. A bender just isn't the place to save tho. Its one of those tools that pretty much has to be $pendy to be decent quality.

j
 
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